Road Accidents in India seminar report

Road Accident’s in India

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

Road safety is a multi-sectoral and multi-dimensional subject. It includes

orderly development and management of roads, provision of safer vehicles, and a

comprehensive response to accidents. It relies on modern traffic management systems

and practices, improved safety standards in design, construction, operation and

maintenance of roads, and production and maintenance of safer vehicles. Owing to

unsafe conditions on roads, the rate of accidents in India has been high. According to

WHO statistics for 2002, out of about 11.8 lakh road accident deaths across the world,

84,674 deaths were reported from India alone. In the year 2004, the number of road

accident deaths in India increased to 92,618.the social cost of road accidents in India

at about 3 per cent of GDP. Considering the gravity of the situation, there is consensus

that concerted measures are necessary for reducing this high level of accident deaths

and injuries through improved safety measures and traffic management. In India with

the expansion in road network, motorization and urbanization in the country, the

number of road accidents have surged. Road traffic injuries (RTIs) and fatalities have

emerged as a major public health concern, with RTIs having become one of the

leading causes of deaths, disabilities and hospitalizations which impose severe socio-

economic costs across the world.

Road safety is an issue of national concern, considering its magnitude and

gravity and the consequent negative impacts on the economy, public health and the

general welfare of the people. Today, RTIs are one of the leading causes of deaths,

disabilities and hospitalizations, with severe socioeconomic costs, across the world.

World Health Statistics 2008 cited in Global Status Report on Road Safety states that

RTIs in 2004 were the 9th leading cause of death and at current rates by 2030 are

expected to be the 5th leading cause of death.

SSBT’s COET, JALGAON Page 1


The United Nations has rightly proclaimed 2011-20 as the decade of action on

road safety and have called upon all member countries to prepare a decadal action

plan for implementation in their respective countries so that the present rising trend of

road accidents stabilizes and is reversed by the year 2020.

Thus, there is an urgent need to recognize the worsening road safety situation

in order to take appropriate action. Road traffic injury prevention and mitigation

should be given the same attention and scale of resources that are currently being

channeled towards other predominant health issues, if increasing human loss and

injury on the roads, with their devastating human impact and large economic cost to

society are to be avoided.



CHAPTER 2

ROAD TRANSPORTATION IN INDIA

2.1 Road network in India

India has road network of over 3,335,000 kilometres in 2010.the second

largest road network in the world. At 0.66km of road per square kilometer of land.

The qualitative density of India’s road network is similar to that of the United States

(0.65) and for higher than that of china (0.16). However, qualitatively India’s roads

are a mix of modern highways and narrow, unpaved roads, and are undergoing drastic

improvement .as of 2008, 49 percent (about 2.1 million kilometers) of Indian roads

were paved.

Adjusted for its large population, India has less than 4 kilometers of roads per

1000 people, including all its paved and unpaved roads. India in its past did not

allocate Enough resources to build or maintain its road network. This is changed since


Road Network in IndiaRoad Network in IndiaPopulationPopulation >> 1 billion people1 billion peopleRoad Network (2Road Network (2nd nd in world)in world) -- 3.3 million km3.3 million km

Roads carry 85% passenger and 70% freight traffic

4,70,000 kms Major District Roads

2,650,000 kms Village & Other Roads

1,28,000 kms State Highways

66,590 kms National Highways

Including 200 kms Expressways


1995, with major efforts currently underway to modernize the country’s road

infrastructures. India plans to spend approximately US$70 Billion by 2013 to

modernize its highway network Road transport is vital to India’s economy.

2.2 Vehicle population in India

India became the fifth largest motor vehicle manufacture in the world in 2011.

Motor vehicle population has grown at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10

percent 2000-2009, during fueled by a rising tide of motorization. Concomitantly,

traffic risk and exposure have grown. During the year 2010, there were around 5 lakh

road accidents, which resulted in deaths of 134,513 people and injured more than 5

lakh persons in India. These numbers translate into 1 road accident every minute and

1 road accident death every four minutes.



CHAPTER 3

CAUSES OF RAOD ACCIDENTS:

Road accident is most unwanted thing to happen to a road user, though they

happen quite often. The most unfortunate thing is that we don’t learn from our

mistakes on road. Most of the road users are quite well aware of the general rules and

safety measures while using roads but it is only on part of road users. Which cause

accidents and crashes. Main cause of accidents and crashes are due to human errors.

Following are common behavior of humans which results in accidents.

1. Over Speeding

2. Drunken Driving

3. Distractions to Driver

4. Red Light Jumping

5. Avoiding Safety Gears like Seat belts and Helmets



Over Speeding:

Most of the fatal accidents occur due to over speeding. It is a natural psyche of

human to excel. If given a chance man is sure to achieve infinity in speed. But when

we are sharing the road with other users we will always remain behind some or other

vehicle. Increase in speed multiplies the risk of accident and severity of injury during

accident. Faster vehicles are more prone to accident than the slower one and the

severity of accident will also be more in case of faster vehicles. Higher the speed the

vehicle needs greater distance to stop i.e. braking distance. A slower vehicle comes to

halt immediately while faster one takes long way to stop and also skids a long

distance due to law of notion. A vehicle moving on high speed will have greater

impact during the crash and hence will cause more injuries. The ability t judge the

forthcoming events also gets reduced while driving at faster speed which causes error

in judgment and finally a crash.

Drunken Driving:

Consumption of alcohol to celebrate any occasion it’s common. But when

mixed with driving it turns celebration into a misfortune, Alcohol reduces

concentration. It decreases reaction time of a human body. Limbs take more to react to

the instruction of brain. It hampers vision due to dizziness. Alcohol dampens fear and

incites humans to take risks. All these factors cause accidents and many times it

proves fatal. For every increase of 0.05 blood alcohol concentration , the risk of

accidents doubles. Apart from alcohol many drugs, medicine also affect the skills and

concentration necessary for driving.

Distraction to Driver:

The distraction while driving could be minor but it can cause major

accidents. Distraction could be outside or inside the vehicle. The major distraction

now a day is talking on mobile while driving. Act of talking on phone occupies major



portion of brain and the smaller part handles the driving skills. This division of brain

hampers reaction time and ability of judgments. This becomes one of the reasons of

crashes.

Some of the distraction on road is

Adjusting mirrors while driving

Stereo/Radio in vehicle

Animals roaming on the road

Banners and billboards.

Red light jumping:

It is a common sight at road intersections that vehicles cross without caring

for the light. The main motive behind red light jumping is saving time. The common

conception is that stopping at red signals is wastage of time and fuel. Studies have

shown that traffic signals followed properly by all drivers save time and commuters

reach destination safely and timely. A red light jumper je not only jeopardizes his life

but also the safety of other road users. This act by one driver incites other driver to

attempt it and finally causes chaos at crossing .this chaos at intersection is the main

cause of traffic jams. Eventually everybody gets late to their destinations. It has also

been seen that the red light jumper crosses the intersection with greater speed to avoid

crash and challan but it hampers his ability to judge the ongoing traffic and quite often

crashes.

Avoiding Safety Gears like seat belts and helmets:

Use of seat belt in four-wheeler is now mandatory and not wearing seat belt

invites penalty, same in the case of helmets for two wheeler drivers. Wearing seat

belts and helmet has been brought under law after proven studies that these two things

reduce the severity of injury during accidents. Wearing seat belts and helmets doubles



the chances of survival in a serious accident. Two wheeler deaths have been made

drastically reduced after use of helmet has been made mandatory. One should use

safety gears of prescribed standard and tie them properly for optimum safety.

CHAPTER 4

MEASURE AGAINST ROAD ACCIDENTS



Measures taken to minimize accidents

The main thrust of accident prevention and control across the world has been on 4 Es.

(I) Education,

(ii) Enforcement,

(iii) Engineering and

(iv) Environment and Emergency care off-road accident victims.

The Government of India has been focusing on all these four

approaches in its policies and programmes. The safety of road users is primarily the

responsibility of the State Government concerned. However, Central Ministry has

taken several steps to improve road safety for road users which are as under:

It is ensured that road safety is the integral part of road design at planning stage.

Various steps to enhance road safety such as road furniture, road markings/road

signs, introduction of Highway Traffic Management System using Intelligent

Transport System, and enhancement of discipline among contractors during

construction, road safety audit on selected stretches, have been undertaken by

National Highways Authority of India.

Refresher training to Heavy Motor Vehicle drivers in the unorganized sectors

being implemented by the Ministry since 1997-98 under plan activities.

Setting up of Model Driving Training School in the States by Ministry of Road

Transport and Highways.

Publicity campaign on road safety awareness both through the audio-visual and

print media by Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.

National Awards for voluntary organizations/individual for outstanding work in

the field of road safety.

Tightening of safety standards of vehicles like Seat Belts, Power-steering, rear

view mirror, etc.

Providing cranes and ambulances to various State Governments/NGOs under

National Highway Accident Relief Service Scheme. National Highways



Authority of India also provides ambulances at a distance of 50 Km. on each of

its completed stretches of National Highways under its Operation &

Maintenance contracts.

Widening and improvements of National Highways from 2 lanes to 4 lanes and

4 lanes to 6 lanes, etc.

Central Government has felt the need for developing institutional mechanism to

provide training to trainers to impart quality training to the drivers, as nearly

78.0% of all road accidents are caused due to drivers’ fault. A scheme for

setting up of model driving training school has been formulated by the

Ministry. Under the revised scheme, 10 schools at an estimated cost of Rs.

140crore are proposed to be set up during the Eleventh Five Year Plan. So far,

sanction has been accorded by the Ministry for setting up of 7 Institutes of

Driving Training and Research, namely27Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh,

Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and TamilNadu. The Ministry is also

in process of sanctioning 3 more such institutes.

National Highway Accident Relief Service Scheme (NHARSS) entails

providing cranes and ambulances to States/UTs/NGOs for relief and rescue

measures in the aftermath of accidents by way of evacuating road accident

victims to nearest medical aid centre and for clearing the accident site. So far,

347 Ten ton cranes and 106small/medium size cranes have been sanctioned

under the scheme. 579 ambulances have been sanctioned to States/UTs/NGOs

under the scheme. During 2011-12, 30 cranes, 30 ambulances and 20

small/medium sized cranes are proposed to be provided. Further, Ministry of

Road Transport & Highways would

Provide 140 advanced life-support ambulances to 140 identified hospitals to be

upgraded under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare’s Scheme

‘establishment of an integrated network of Trauma Centers’ along the Golden

Quadrilateral, North-South and East-West Corridors of the National Highways



by upgrading the trauma care facilities in 140 identified State Government

hospitals. 70 ambulances have already been provided. Another 70 ambulances

will be provided during the Financial Year2011-12.

Publicity Measures and Awareness Campaign on Road Safety:

With a view to raise road safety awareness among the general public, the

Government have been undertaking various publicity measures through DAVP and

professional agencies in the form of telecasting/broadcasting of T.V. spots/Radio

jingles, display of cinema slides, hoardings, organizing Road Safety Week, Seminars,

Exhibitions, All India Essay Competition on Road Safety, printing of

handbills/stickers, posters, etc., containing road safety messages for various segments

of road users viz. Pedestrians, cyclists, school children, heavy vehicle drivers, etc.

painting on road railings on themes of road safety, road safety games, calendars

depicting road safety messages, etc.

To promote awareness about road safety issues

To establish a road safety information database.

To ensure safer road infrastructure by way of designing safer roads,

encouraging application of Intelligent Transport System, etc.

To ensure fitment of safety features in the vehicles at the stage of designing,

manufacture, usage, operation and maintenance.

To strengthen the system of driver licensing and training to improve the

competence of drivers.

To take measures to ensure safety of vulnerable road users.

To take appropriate measures for enforcement of safety laws.

CHAPTER 5

“ROAD SAFETY IS NO ACCIDENT”.



At a plenary meeting of the United Nations General Assembly on 14th April

2004, a resolution co-sponsored by India expressed grave concern about the large

number of fatalities in road crashes. The World Health Organization also declared the

year 2004 as the Year of Road Safety and launched World Health Day in April 2004

with the slogan –

“Road safety is no accident”.

The World Report on Road Traffic Injury Prevention1 of the World Bank and World

Health Organization (WHO) in the year 2004 stated that road traffic injuries are a

major but neglected global public health problem requiring concerted efforts for

effective and sustainable prevention. Of all the systems that people have to deal with

on a day-to-day basis, road transport is the most complex and the most unsafe mode of

transportation. The tragedy behind the regularly occurring road crashes attracts less

media attention than other, less frequent but more unusual types of tragedies. The

report forecasts that without any increased effort and new initiatives, the total number

of road traffic injuries and deaths worldwide would rise by 65 per cent between 2000-

2020 whereas in low-income and middle-income countries, deaths are expected to

increase by as much as 80 per cent. The majority of such deaths are at present of

“vulnerable road users, pedestrians, pedal cyclists and motorcyclists”. In high income

countries, deaths among car occupants continue to be predominant but risk per capita

that vulnerable road user’s face is high. The report also underscored the concern about

the detrimental impact of an unsafe road transport system on public health and global

development. Obviously, the level of road deaths and injuries is unacceptable and to a

large extent avoidable thus, there is an urgent need to recognize the worsening road

safety situation in order to take appropriate action. Road traffic injury prevention and

mitigation should be given the same attention and



Scale of resources that are currently being channeled towards other predominant

health issues, if increasing human loss and injury on the roads, with their devastating

human impact and large economic cost to society are to be avoided. 1.5 According to

WHO statistics (year 2002) about 11.8 lakh people die every year in road accidents,

the world over, of which 84,674 deaths are reported to take place in India. In 2004 the

number of deaths had increased to 92,618. The mortality rate in India is 8.7 per

hundred thousand populations as compared to 5.6 in UK, 5.4 in Sweden, 5.0 in The

Netherlands and 6.7 in Japan. In terms of mortality per 10,000 vehicles, the rate in

India is as high as 14 as compared to less than two in developed countries. The cost of

road crashes has been assessed at one to two per cent of GDP in developed countries.

A study by the Planning Commission in 2002 estimated the social cost of road

accidents in India at Rs.55, 000 crore annually (2000 prices), which constitutes about

3 per cent of the GDP. 1.6 With massive investment in roads and the exponential

growth in the number of vehicles it has become necessary to have a system, which

integrates all disciplines that influence road safety and which at the same time would

have linkages with established institutions that cater to the different aspects of road

safety viz. engineering, education, enforcement, medical and behavioral sciences.

CHAPTER 6

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION:



There is clearly a need for road safety education and it should be directed towards

road users, who are frequently involved and injured in RTAs (e.g. students). An

integrated programme of road safety education is suggested.

(a) Pre-school children may be introduced to the elementary concepts of road safety

through stories involving the animal world.

(b) Primary school children may be given practice guidance on the use of side walks

and road crossing techniques.

(c) For middle school students - road signs and bicycle riding. (d) High school

students can be taught about reaction time, braking distance, defensive driving and

hazards of alcoholic drinks. Road side random breath testing for alcohol should be

done by using breath analyzers, which can be confirmed by blood concentration level

of alcohol.

The real pressure and motivation to improve driving skills can come only through

licensing authorities by adopting stricter, more comprehensive and scientifically based

test laying a stress on road rules, regulations and traffic control devices.

At the time of giving license to the public transport drivers (Bus and Trucks), they can

be given training in first-aid skills so that victims are attended immediately in the post

accident period.

CHAPTER 7

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